


A Slightly Better Version of Yourself

by DebetEsse



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Can be read as Pre-Jenkins/Ezekiel Jones, Dialogue Heavy, Ezekiel Jones cares, Ezekiel Jones has no idea what he's doing, Ezekiel-centric, Gen, I Tried, Internet research is the best research, Post-Episode: s03e02 And the Fangs of Death, Post-Episode: s03e03 And the Reunion of Evil, Protective Jenkins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 04:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8876428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DebetEsse/pseuds/DebetEsse
Summary: As Ezekiel, with Jenkins' help, tries to process the events of Fangs of Death, Morgan le Fay shows up with an offer for one of them and some information for the other.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AceAsADHA](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceAsADHA/gifts).



> Many, many thanks to mesonyx for the excellent beta, but any errors are my own.
> 
> Seriously, though, what was I thinking, offering a fandom that would have new content between deadline and reveal? Poor planning.
> 
> Also thanks to i_is_a_freak, for a prompt that has led me down some interesting paths. I hope you enjoyed this, even if it wasn't exactly what you were hoping for.

Jenkins was returning from dropping off Charlene’s ledgers when he heard the tha-thump down the hall and followed it to the now-formerly locked room. He found Ezekiel Jones sitting on the floor, his back against the wall by the door. Jenkins watched as he threw the blue rubber ball across the room, and it bounced against the wall and floor before returning to him. When Ezekiel caught the ball and looked up at him, he nodded and started to sit down.  
The noise Jenkins made was significantly less than dignified.  
“Rough day?” Ezekiel asked, resuming his ball-throwing.  
“I took a small tumble…down a cliff.”  
“Score one for team immortal, yeah?”  
Jenkins tilted his head toward his shoulder with a crack. “Perhaps just half a point.”  
“I leveled up today.”  
“Oh? And how were you a slightly better version of yourself this time?”  
“Self-sacrifice. Not sure how much it counts, since I was pretty sure I was dying, anyway, but…”  
“It counts,” Jenkins interrupted. “Risk of pain can be as…challenging as risk of death.”  
“The Princess Bride thing,” Ezekiel said, nodding.  
“Sorry?” Ezekiel caught the ball.  
“‘To the pain?’ No? Seriously? That one goes on the list for sure.” He picked up his phone and began typing.  
“I should be able to make more progress, now that Mr. Carson has left us once again.”  
“Where’d Flynn go this time?”  
“Off to find Charlene.”  
Ezekiel stopped typing. “So, not dead.”  
“No, it seems not.”  
“Oh. Ok. Good! Score two for team immortal,” he said, too brightly. He put his phone down and picked up the ball again.  
“Ezekiel?”  
“Nah, it’s just…people keep dying, or almost dying, or we think they died, but then they’re alive, which is great, but it…” He threw the ball hard and it went flying, bouncing against the ceiling and the wall above their heads before rolling to a stop against the platform in the center of the room.  
“It doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.”  
“Because you can’t just assume everything will be fine. Like, that lady today, at the lab. Her boyfriend died. Like, dead dead. I watched him fall. It was awful. And what if, next time it’s different and Eve DOES die, or Stone or Cassandra or you, now that immortality apparently isn’t a sure thing.” Ezekiel flung himself up and started over toward the ball.  
Jenkins thought for a moment. “Then we will be sad. And we will miss them. And we will keep going.”  
“Do you? Still miss them, I mean?” He picked up the ball and gave it a bounce.  
“Of course. I have been trying to ‘live in the now’, but, yes. There will always be reminders.”  
“Like DuLac.”  
“Well, yes. But not just that. Take you, for example.”  
“Me?” he asked, returning to his seat against the wall.  
“You remind me of Percival.”  
“Was he the smartest and bravest knight in the land?” Ezekiel asked, straightening up.  
“No, he was a little shit with no social skills. Literally raised in the woods. And he thought far too highly of himself.”  
“Ok, that’s fair.”  
“But he cared. Despite himself, sometimes. He cared about people.”  
“Well, I think we can all agree that that was a bad choice.” Ezekiel threw the ball.

==================

Blinking in the bright sunlight, Ezekiel tucked the book into his bag and headed out to the coffee shop down the street, then looked over his shoulder to make sure Jenkins hadn’t seen him. He felt the shift in the bag, though he hadn’t heard anyone approach.  
“Now, why would a Librarian be sneaking out with a copy of The Chronicles of Camelot?” He turned to see Morgan Le Fay paging through the book.  
“Give that back!” he said, trying to grab it out of her hands.  
She flicked her hand without looking up and his bag upended itself, spilling its contents onto the ground. Ezekiel went scrambling after the blue rubber ball that was rolling down the path.  
“Not a bad history, though it’s much too nice to Sir Kay. I should write my own sometime. But that’s not why I’m here.” He looked up from stuffing his things back into the bag to glare at her.  
“Need another recharge from some kids?” He glanced at the children playing tag in the field next to them.  
“No, I’ll all full up at the moment. Actually, I came to find you.” She handed the book back to him.  
“Me?”  
“Yes,” she started walking down the path, leaving him no choice but to follow. “I was passing through and thought, rather than outsourcing my technical needs, perhaps I could find a collaborator.”  
“And you thought of me? I mean, I understand why you’d want me, but I already have a job.” He struggled to keep up as she strode through a group of joggers crossing their path.  
“I’m offering you more than a job. I’m offering you the key to anything you’ve ever wanted. Immortality, any treasure you’ve ever heard of, any adventure you can imagine, and, best of all, no judgement.”  
“What?” he stopped, and she turned back toward him.  
“It has to be irritating, the goody-two shoes librarians and that guardian, let alone Galeas, never letting you have any fun, always looking down on you?”  
“Well, a little…”  
“I promise you, Mr. Jones, that I will never judge you. You don’t have to pretend that you care. In fact, I can make it so that you don’t have to care at all, about any of these stupid little people with their stupid little lives and their stupid little problems. I could make you great, Ezekiel Jones.”  
“And you’d get a pet thief,” he said, crossing his arms.  
“Well, yes. I’m not altruistic, there is something in it for me. But I chose you for a reason. You have a unique skill set, and,” she paused, tilting her head,“if I’m not mistaken, a distinctly lupine scent.”  
“Yeah, Jenkins says that’ll wear off eventually.” He shifted uncomfortably.  
“Hmmm…perhaps, mostly. But it could definitely prove useful.”  
“Right. Well, thanks for the offer, but, like I said, I already have a job.” He pushed past her.  
“Being the expendable one?” she asked, too sweetly.  
He stopped, but did not turn back toward her.  
She continued. “I spent most of my first lifetime trying to get people to accept me. I pretended I didn’t care, but it still hurt. Whatever I did, they still didn’t trust me, wouldn’t let me in. Eventually, I learned to look out for myself. I had hoped you would have learned that by now, but I guess you’re still young.”  
Ezekiel took a deep breath and relaxed his fists.  
“Isn’t there anything you want?” she asked, a hint of exasperation in her voice.  
He shrugged his shoulders, smiling even though she couldn’t see it. “A really good pizza, a couple days to read this book, and a nice cleaning spell to get the grease off afterwards. So, I’m all set.”  
She stared at him for a moment. “I see. Well, your loss.”  
“Yeah, I really doubt that.”  
“It’s an open offer. I’m just a summoning spell away. Call me when you change your mind.”

============================

Jenkins swirled his tea, crossing off “point Baird at Ezekiel” off his mental to-do list.  
“I see you’ve gotten yourself a puppy.” His jaw clenched as soon as he heard the all-too-memorable voice. He forced himself to put down his tea before looking up at her.  
“What are you doing here?” He glanced at the door, which was still closed.  
“It’s nice to see you, too. Don’t bother checking your security. It’s fine. I just left a little anchor here last time I came to visit. So, you know, have fun with that.” She wandered toward Flynn’s desk, but he took a few steps, putting himself between her and it.  
“Why are you here? I thought you were off to party with the fae while the world ended.”  
“Yes, well, I had a little disagreement with one of the ladies of the legion. Besides, the world didn’t end, so, congratulations on that.” She turned toward the work table.  
“It was a team effort.”  
“You’ve grown quite fond of them, haven’t you, your little librarian-ettes? The thief certainly seems enamored of you.” He cringed as she ran her hand over the clippings book. “I do believe you’ve inspired him to read a book, which may be a first for him.”  
“Why. Are you. Here?”  
“No reason, really. I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by.”  
“In the neighborhood,” he repeated, skeptically. “On what business?”  
“Well, if you must know, I made an offer…a very good offer, I will have you know…but it seems I’ve been rejected.” She regarded herself in the mirror, smoothing her hair.  
“Is that a first for you?” he asked with mock-sympathy.  
“Hardly. It is unusual, though. I don’t know what you’ve done to him, but Ezekiel Jones has no interest in leaving this place.”  
“If you’ve hurt him—“ He found his hand reaching for a sword that would not have been useful, even if it had been there.  
“Oh, settle down. What would be the point in that? He might still be useful in the future.”  
“I doubt it.”  
She studied him for a moment from across the table, then smiled. “I could, though. I could hurt him in ways you can’t even imagine.”  
“You could try.”  
“Oh, now, we both know that, if I really put my mind to it, it wouldn’t even be that hard.”  
“Lady Morgan, you might be able to harm Ezekiel Jones if you ‘really put you mind to it.’ You might even take down a few others in the attempt.” He braced his hands on the table and leaned toward her. “But the rule of three would not even begin to describe the pain that would rain down upon you. I would dedicate myself to seeing the end of you, and I do believe that the Library would not stand for a magical entity such as yourself targeting one of our own. You know, I have never seen the Library on a mission. I believe that it would be quite the sight.” She clapped her hands with delight.  
“Oh, you are fond of him. You are too transparent, Galeas. And you really should have let go of your grudge against me by now. But, as they say, you do you.”  
“Get out.”  
“Alright. Alright.” She turned toward the door, then stopped. “But, you…you do know that he’s also magical, don’t you?”  
“Who?”  
“The thief. Not strongly, but he definitely…bends reality a little. I’m surprised that you’re willing to trust him.”  
“Get. Out.”  
“No hospitality at all. Alright. I’m leaving.”  
And, with the smallest shake of her head, she was gone.

===================================

“No, no, don’t—“ the rest of the thought was cut off with a clang. Ezekiel wasn’t too worried. He was familiar with Jenkins’ troubleshooting procedures. Whatever he was working on was giving him more than a little trouble, though. He brushed off the cover of the book and returned it to one of the shelves before following the sounds to Jenkins’ lab.  
“Overhead projector giving you trouble again?”  
“No, it’s,” Jenkins looked up, “it’s an incubator. It’s stopped…” he waved his hand toward it, “incubating. Cassandra put a protection spell on the egg before she left, so there’s a little time before things get dire, but—“  
“Where’d she go?” Jenkins stopped and looked at Ezekiel.  
“I sent her and Mr. Stone on an errand from the appointment book. Since Mr Carson has absented himself, someone had to do it.”  
“You sent them without me?”  
“You had also absented yourself,” he said stiffly. “They’ll be fine. Just retrieving a crystal from a cave.” He turned back to the incubator.  
“Where?”  
“Sweden…somewhere. Will you hand me that screwdriver?” he asked, holding out his hand.  
“I’m just gonna go check on them…”  
“It’s a twenty mile hike from the nearest door. You won’t catch up.”  
“You sent them on their own that far from a door?”  
“You weren’t here. And Colonel Baird is working on her own project. I’m sure it will be fine. Can you help me with this? It’s fairly simple electrics, but something just isn’t…” The incubator gave off a loud pop and some sparks. “Well, that’s not good.”  
“Yeah, sure. I just…I’m gonna check something,” Ezekiel said, pulling out his phone.  
“Ezekiel? Ezekiel!”

=====================

Ezekiel sat in a wooden desk chair, facing the tank. He’d plugged it into the only open outlet he could find in Jenkin’s workroom. “And this is a golden mask, about 200 years old. I lifted it off of some thieves in Monrovia.” He turned his phone toward the tank, and the baby swam over to look at it.  
“Starting her off on a life of crime?” Jenkins asked from the doorway?  
“Just making sure she knows how awesome her de facto mother is,” Ezekiel said with a smile, scrolling through the pictures on his phone as he swiveled the chair.  
“Well, we can get some more appropriate material together for her,” Jenkins suggested.  
“Are you saying you don’t trust my judgement?” Ezekiel asked with a roll of his eyes.  
“No, but, in this case, a little sensitivity is called for. She is a magical creature, after all.”  
“Don’t want her turning to the dark side?”  
“Indeed.” Jenkins frowned and walked over to the tank. “Speaking of which, I was worried when you didn’t turn up after talking to Morgan. ‘I’m OK’ is not a very convincing text.”  
“You know about that?” Ezekiel stopped the chair and looked up at him.  
“She paid me a visit, as well.”  
“Oh. What did she tell you?”  
“That she made you an offer, and you turned her down.”  
“Yeah.” Ezekiel traced a figure 8 pattern on the glass of the tank, and the baby tried to follow it, but she was clearly getting tired.  
“Would you care to share with the rest of the class?”  
“About what you’d expect. ‘Come work for me and I’ll make you an immortal asshole, just like I am.’”  
“And yet you were gone for 2 days.” The baby had moved to a corner of the tank, blowing ripples across the surface of the water as she slept. Ezekiel took his hand off the glass.  
“She said that it’s pointless, that no one will ever trust me.”  
“I trust you.”  
“Sure didn’t seem like it today.”  
“Yes, well, she knows how to push my buttons.” Jenkins pursed his lips. “I’m sorry.”  
“No worries,” Ezekiel said as he stood up, then started to head for the door. Jenkins turned back to the still-broken incubator and picked up a screwdriver, then put it back down.  
“I never told you what happened to Percival, did I?”  
“Is he off rescuing villages in India?” Ezekiel asked, turning back toward him.  
“No, no, he didn’t…he decided immortality wasn’t for him. He didn’t want to watch everyone around him grow old and die.”  
“But you were like ‘so long, suckers! Hope you like arthritis!’”  
Jenkins cringed. “Not exactly, no. I didn’t think I had anything…anyone left to lose. By the time he made his decision, it was too late for me to change my mind. I never saw him again. Turns out I was wrong.” He flicked on the work lamp and opened the incubator doors.  
“Morgan said that it’s an open offer,” Ezekiel said, frowning at the heating element part he had picked up. Jenkins stopped at looked at him.  
“I would urge you not to take her up on it.”  
“I won’t.” He picked up a rag and began wiping the end of the pipe.  
“That’s awfully definite.”  
“I mean, I have to set up some traps for Baird, some kind of ‘leadership’ thing. And I’ve got this little one to take care of. I think I’ll call her Eliot.”  
“Eliot?”  
“The Untouchables, mate. Eliot Ness? Gotta name her after one of the good guys.” He smiled and slotted the part back into the incubator.  
“Of course. Well, if you need any help—“ He stopped when the incubator began to hum. Ezekiel smiled.  
“I probably will. I mean, she’s gonna outgrow that tank in no time, and what do loch ness monsters even eat? I need to learn biology.”  
“I’m sure we can find you a book.”  
“Pfft. I don’t do books. How much biology do you know? I mean, you had this thing lying around, right?”  
Jenkins smiled as he followed Ezekiel out the door.


End file.
